Pep Hamilton’s offense will be run-first but don’t think he’s forgotten about the passing game

Intro: Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton will get an extended look at his first-team offense on Sunday night. Whether his unit will lean on the run or pass remains to be seen, but Hamilton is focused on a few keys for the Colts second preseason game.

INDIANAPOLIS – Ideally, Pep Hamilton’s first-team offense will log a couple of seven-eight play series on Sunday that end in some type of points.

Execution and efficiency are on the forefront of what Hamilton is looking for from his unit as the Colts travel to take on the New York Giants on Sunday night.

“We of course have some things we’re looking to evaluate, but at the same time there’s no excuse for us not to go out and try and score points every time we touch the football,” Hamilton said earlier this week.

One area that Hamilton has focused on all offseason is “no wasted plays.”

He expanded on that topic earlier this week on what he’s looking for out of his offense.

“Managing plays that don’t necessarily evolve the way we expect them to. We’ve got to do a great job, in particular at the quarterback position, of not compounding the problem,” Hamilton said.

“If the concept is designed for us to hit a guy deep downfield, but if that guy’s not open, he is double covered, we've got to have the discipline to find our check down and/or in some cases just throw the ball away.”

Much has been made about the run/pass balance that the Colts offense will ultimately achieve this year.

Earlier this week, Hamilton reiterated that he wants his offense to be run-first, but by no means is he discounting the weapons in the passing game.

“We feel like it takes a lot of pressure off the quarterback if we can of course run the football and force defenses to pack the box. That’s going to open up opportunities to create big plays in the passing game so it’s a two-fold effect,” Hamilton said.

“The run game opens up the passing game and vice versa so we are hoping that this Sunday night we are going to have an opportunity to go out and execute all the plays that we call on game day.”

Getting out of Sunday night’s game with the Giants unscathed is a premium for an offense that doesn’t have a ton of interior line depth and is missing Dwayne Allen.

“Justice has shown he is willing to be physical at the point of attack and of course he had a big play in the passing game this past Sunday (17-yard reception) so he’s making strides and he’s showing that he may be a guy that can compete for playing time in our offense,” Hamilton said.

Add Cunningham’s name to the now lengthy list Hamilton mentions as offensive playmakers.

And Hamilton doesn’t forget the guys in the trenches either.

“We consider our offensive linemen to be playmakers. I feel like a pulling guard is as big a part of our offense and giving us a chance to have an explosive play in the running game as our wide receivers.”

“We are excited about our tight end group. Of course our receivers, we have Reggie Wayne and T.Y (Hilton) and DHB (Darrius Heyward-Bey) and some young guys that have shown over the course of training camp that they have the potential to make big plays so we feel good about the repertoire guys that we have and we’re excited about those guys making plays on game day.”

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